Three-dimensional surface for skis and the like



Oct. 29, 1968 w. N. BENNETT 3,408,086

THREE-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE FOR SKIS AND THE LIKE Filed 00T.. 25, 1966 8FIG. 3

IIOFIGQ2 E FIG. 4

FIG@ ,236

INVENTOR WILLIAM N. BENNETT ATTORNEY United States Patent C 3,408,086THREE-DIMENSIONAL SURFACE FOR SKIS AND THE LIKE William N. Bennett,Miami, Fla., assignor, by mesne assiglments, to Skisearch, Inc., Boston,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Continuation-impart of abandonedapplication Ser. No. 558,738, June 20, 1966. This application Oct. 25,1966, Ser. No. 589,398

13 Claims. (Cl. 280-11.13)

ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A bottom surface for an elongated element forgliding over a surface, eg., skis, said surface having athree-dimensional pattern including a series of protuberances which arearranged in a generally continuous pattern along the bottom of theelongated element and each of which presents an exposed face inclinedrelative to the general plane of the bottom, each inclined exposed faceterminating in a rearward direction in a convexly curved dropoff edge,said exposed faces being arranged generally in at least two parts, aforward part and a rearward part, the rearward part being at an angle oflesser inclination relative to the general plane of the bottom than isthe forward part of the face, and in fact said rearward face part oflesser inclination being in some cases generally parallel to the generalplane of the bottom of the elongated element.

This invention relates to skis, surf boards, etc., and similar devicesfor sliding or gliding over water, snow, ice, etc., and guided by ahuman practitioner, and relates to a scale surface therefor as explainedin my copending patent application Ser. No. 558,738, filed June 20, 1966`and now abandoned. Attention is also directed to United States Patent3,269,892, dated Aug. 30, 1966.

Skis generally are provided with one or more longitudinal grooves formedin the base thereof for the purpose of straight and traverse trackingand stability on turns. The new scaled bottom surface does not requirethe use of such grooves as it tracks better and has far more stabilityin turns than the prior art grooved ski surface. The scaled bottom skiis easier to turn and control and the scales themselves provide a seriesof groove-like configurations of small size compared to the grooves inthe conventional ski.

It has been discovered that by placing a land or flat on individualscales over the running surface thereof friction is further reduced.That is, the edges of the scales which contact the snow or ice or water)are as it were blunted, and this provides for even better action withless friction than heretofore, but with control still intact.

Also in order to even further reduce friction while at the same timeadding control, the scales are tapered off to a point of elimination ina fore-and-aft or longitudinal direction adjacent the edges of the skis,i.e., just inwardly of the steel edges: and by tapering or blending thesame inwardly from no scale to a complete scale pattern covering most ofthe bottom of the ski, even more friction is eliminated or drasticallyreduced and maneuverability is increased.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter,

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of a section of the ski embodying thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

3,408,086 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 ice FIG. 4 shows the scale outline ofmy previous application above identified;

FIG. 5 is a transverse diagramamtic showing to explain the construction;and

FIG. 6 is a section showing a modification.

In carrying out the present invention, the scale pattern is clearlyshown in FIGS. 1 and 3 for instance, this pattern having lbeen fullyexplained in my above identified application. In the present casehowever these scales have been flattened in the areas at 10, see forinstance FIG. 2. This should be compared with FIG. 4, the latter showingthe previous construction.

The effect is that the dropoff edges 12 in FIG. 2 are not as high as thedropof edges in FIG. 4 nor yare they as sharp. On the other hand thetapering edges 14 may be impressed deeper than the correspondingtapering edges in FIG. 4 so as to make the dropoff edges at 12 ofapproximately equal height with those shown in FIG. 4 and this inventioncontemplates either construction.

This novel form of `of scale has less friction on snow and ice (andwater) than the previous scale formation, i.e., in FIG. 4, whenproceeding in a forward direction, but the control on making turns is asgreat as before and the resistance to sliding in a rearward direction isalso approximately as great.

The present invention also contemplates the use of blanked out areas inthe regions at 18 adjacent the edges of the skis so that the scaleformation here actually tapers off in a lateral direction toward theoutside of the ski edges from a full scale pattern in the centralportion. The actual construction is one in which this formation isgradually tapered off as is attempted to be shown in dotted lines inFIG. 5. There is actually no abrupt discontinuance of the scale patternbut instead the scale pattern gradually phases out at the extreme edgeof the pattern whether this be at the edge `of the ski or adjacent thesteel edges as shown herein.

On the other hand the bottom of the ski is essentially flat as isindicated by the line indicated at 20 in FIG. 5. In this figure, thedotted lines 22 above line 20 have been eliminated either by scraping orgrinding off or by simply making the mold to that shape in the firstplace. This provides the flats 10 as well as the fading and blank areas18.

This can be done either by making the mold forming the scale formationaccording to the description above; or in a case where a ski without theplastic bottom but embodying the parts generally indicated as at 24 inFIG. 3, is provided with a matte or owable plastic material upon whichthe scale pattern is pressed. When this is done, the scale pattern isslightly depressed in the center of the ski, i.e., along thelongitudinal axis thereof, because this is where the pressure is formedto the greatest extent. This forms a slight concavity so that the ski isthen left appearing as in FIG. 5 where the dotted lines 22 arerepresentative of the scale pattern. When this is cut off, or groundoff, along the line 20, it will be seen that the entire scale patternadjacent the edge of the ski is sheared off; but moving inwardlytherefrom, only the tops of the scale pattern are removed leaving thesame flat at their highest edges or what were the highest edges in FIG.4 and are now represented by the flats 10 in FIG. 2.'

The scale formation has a very peculiar property which is that if thepattern is carried to the extreme edges of the article, there is acrowding in towards the center of the material of the surface over whichthe ski is passing. That is, for instance in light powdery snow, thesnow tends to crowd in towards the center of the ski due to the scaleeffect and fail to liow outwardly.

However with the phased or faded out pattern as described above, thisdoes not happen, and the bottom surface of the ski therefore does nottend to become jammed with snow, etc. For this reason the presentinvention retains all the advantages of the scale surface as in mycopending patent application identified above, but at the same timespeed in a forward direction is enhanced and lateral control as forinstance on turns, etc., is retained.

As shown in FIG. 6, if the scales are slightly undercut, they will tendto hinge or pivot as shown by dotted lines at 26. It will be seen thatthis action will not cause any adverse action in a forward direction butwill definitely increase resistance to sliding backwards when skiinguphill, see 28.

It is pointed out that both FIGS. 5 and 6 are exaggerated in order tomore clearly show the construction and the action involved in theseforms of the invention.

Another effect of the scale pattern resides in the fact that where thescales join in transverse rows, as at 30, 30, there are actually formeda series of parallel longitudinal small grooves. These grooves areinterrupted of course by each alternate row of scales but neverthelessthe groove is present and tends to stabilize the forward motion of theski so that no groove formation as is common in conventional skis iseither desired or necessary but on the other hand the plurality of smallgrooves as described between adjacent scales adds to the stability ofthe ski in the forward motion thereof.

I claim:

1. A device for gliding over a surface comprising an elongated elementhaving a main body portion, a ont end and arear end, and a threedimensional patterned bottom, the pattern including a plurality ofprotuberances which extend outwardly from the main body portion of theelement, certain of said protuberances presenting a convexly curved edgelocated at an angle to the general plane of the bottom of the element,each edge including a portion facing rearwardly, certain of saidprotuberances having surface-contacting areas which incline relative tothe plane of the bottom from a minimum thickness in the forwarddirection of motion of the element to a maximum in a rearward directionand terminating in said edges, said protuberances being aligned in rowstransverse of the element, certain rows being aligned in a fore-and-aftdirection relative to the element, and certain rows being misaligned inthe fore-and-aft direction.

2. A device for moving relative to a medium comprising an elongatedelement having a main =body portion, a front end and a rear end, and abottom having a threedimensional pattern,

the pattern including a plurality of protuberances certain of which eachpresent a convexly curving edge located at an angle to the general planeof the bottom of the element, each edge presenting its curve generallytoward the rear,

certain of said protuberances each having an exposed face which includesa forward part and a rearward part, the forward part of each exposedface being located on an incline extending outwardly from the generalplane of the bottom toward the rear, from a minimum forwardly thereof toa maximum rearwardly,

certain of the rearward parts of said exposed faces lying at a lesserdegree of inclination to the general plane of the bottom than do theforward parts of the respective exposed faces of the protuberances.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the rearward face parts aresubstantially parallel to the general plane of the bottom.

4. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arerelatively reduced in height.

5. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arereduced in height in certain longitudinal areas thereof.

6. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arereduced in height in certain longitudinal areas to substantially zero.

7. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arereduced in height in certain longitudinal areas to substantially zeroadjacent the side edges of the element.

8. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arereduced in height in certain longitudinal areas to substantially zeroadjacent the side edges of the element, there being a central full scalearea between the areas of reduction of the pattern.

9. The device of claim 2 wherein certain of the protuberances arealigned longitudinally of the element and present longitudinal groovesat the areas of join of contiguous protuberances.

10, The device of claim 2 wherein the bottom of the element is concavelongitudinally.

11. The device of claim 2 wherein the bottom of the element is concavelongitudinally, the longitudinal side edge portions of the bottomextending outwardly from the bottom relative to the central portionthereof.

12. The device of claim 2 wherein the bottom of the element is concavelongitudinally, the longitudinal side edge portions of the bottomextending outwardly from the bottom relative to the central portionthereof, the patern being less pronounced in the areas adjacent the sideedges of the bottom.

13. The device of claim 2 wherein the bottom of the element is concavelongitudinally, the longitudinal side edge portions of the bottomextending outwardly from the bottom relative to the central portionthereof, the pattern being less pronounced in the areas adjacent theside edges of the bottom and gradually fading out from areas spaced fromthe bottom edges in a direction toward the edges.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 870,369 3/ 1953 Germany. 468,104 6/1937 Great Britain. 473,231 10/ 1937 Great Britain. 179,481 11/ 1935Switzerland. 375,645 4/ 1964 Switzerland.

LEO FRIAGLIA, Primary Examiner.

MILTON L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner.

